LaTech’s Rike does it all to beat ’Bows

Rike's eighth-inning homer -- his team's third of the night -- gave Louisiana Tech the final go-ahead run in a 10-9 victory over Hawaii. Then the lefty came in to pitch in the ninth for his first save.

"That's fun to me," said Rike, who has 20 homers this season. "That's what baseball is all about, coming through in clutch situations. That's what you work hard for, and every little kid thinks about that stuff."

There were a lot of little kids among the season-high sellout crowd of 3,487 at Les Murakami Stadium that saw 10 lead changes and ties. The crowd also saw a combined 18 walks, two balks, six wild pitches and four home runs.

"It was poorly pitched by both teams," UH coach Mike Trapasso said, after LaTech evened the three-game series that concludes today. "Neither team's pitchers wanted it until the end."

Bulldogs relievers Alan Knotts and Rike provided enough pitching though to get their team its first win over UH after seven losses.

Knotts (1-1) went 3 1/3 scoreless innings for the victory, and Rike finished up after Eli Christensen led off the Rainbows ninth with a triple.

Hawaii fell to 26-16 and 7-7 in the Western Athletic Conference. LaTech is 30-15 and 10-4. Despite the win, the Bulldogs fell behind first-place Fresno State, which is 11-4 in the league after sweeping a doubleheader from New Mexico State. UH is fourth in the WAC.

"It was just a matter of time before he popped one," LaTech coach Wade Simoneaux said of Rike's homer.

Vinnie Catricala and Evan Zimny each had two hits for Hawaii, with Zimny hitting his second homer of the season to tie the game at 3 in the second.

Hawaii scored two unearned runs in the first. Jon Hee led off with a single off first baseman Albie Goulder's glove and moved to second on Justin Frash's walk.

Brandon Haislet then grounded to Courtney Jones at third. Jones' throw to second was wild, allowing Hee to score and Frash to third. Frash scored on the next pitch -- Matt Combs' passed ball.

LaTech went up 3-2 in the top of the second. Dennis Winn hit a solo homer over both fences in left. Then Goulder singled, followed by a shot off the right-center wall by Nick Grunenwald. Grunenwald went for a triple and was hit by Hee's relay throw. The ball bounced away, allowing Grunenwald to score.

Rike doubled and Hawaii starter Josh Schneider issued two walks to load the bases in the third. Goulder singled to score Rike and give LaTech a 4-3 lead.

UH chased Bulldogs starter Ryan Rupert in the third. Frash and Haislet started with singles, and Frash scored on a wild pitch after Kris Sanchez moved him to third with a fly to center. Catricala followed with a single scoring Haislet. Rupert walked Zimny and went 2-0 on Landon Hernandez and LaTech called in Jericho Jones, who got out of the inning without more trouble.

WAC Standings

Conference

Overall

W

L

Pct.

GB

W

L

Fresno State

11

4

.733

--

26

19

Louisiana Tech

10

4

.714

1/2

30

15

Nevada

6

5

.545

3

22

18

Hawaii

7

7

.500

3 1/2

26

16

San Jose State

5

6

.454

4

24

15

Sacramento State

5

12

.294

7

10

28

New Mexico State

4

11

.266

7

14

24

Yesterday
San Jose State 5, Sacramento State 1
Fresno State 14, New Mexico State 3
Fresno State 9, New Mexico State 1
Louisiana Tech 10, Hawaii 9Today
New Mexico State at Fresno State
Sacramento State at San Jose State
Louisiana Tech at Hawaii, 1 p.m.